


Let’s Save It for Act Two

by orphan_account



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Crying, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Sad Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series), Sick Ricky Bowen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22157464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ricky is in shambles after the events of act one, needing comfort from one very specific cast member who knows him more than anyone. Rewrite of the end of episode 9, I guess???
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Kudos: 156





	Let’s Save It for Act Two

**Author's Note:**

> hi i’m back. i hope u like it pls give kudos i need validation:) jk but pls

“Ricky you look like your shaking, do you need to sit down?” Kourtney said. Her, Carlos, and Seb turned towards the boy, looks of concern plastered on their faces. Ricky felt as if he was vibrating. 

“Um, I-um..” Ricky trembled, his entire body felt like it was vibrating.”I don’t-”

“Ricky you’re practically turning green. Are you okay?” Seb asked. No, actually he wasn’t. He was so tripped up about his mom and that guy with her in the audience. 

It made him feel sick, truly sick that his Mom would even think about bringing her fucking new boyfriend to his show. He wanted to punch a wall, or cry, or throw up; he might just possibly all three. His body felt warm, uncomfortably warm. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it all over again. There was nausea, too much nausea. Fuck, he wasn’t doing well. 

“Ricky-” Seb started but was soon cut off by an unstable Ricky beginning to stumble. 

“Actually I-I’m not feeling so good.” His breathing hitched and Carlos placed a steady hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry excuse me.” His throat felt closed and he started to dash out of the backstage area. 

It was intermission, soon people would begin to fill the hallways; Ricky had to run. He dashed through the double doors, chasing his own feet down the stairs, nearly collapsing into himself. He reached the very bottom level, charging towards the nearest bathroom, but his stomach wouldn’t allow it. 

Suddenly his feet began to slow from the churning in his stomach. He lightly grabbed his midsection before he was abruptly gagging into his hand profusely. The bathroom was no longer an option, but luckily there was a large bin insight. Ricky managed to charge towards it quickly before hurling with wretched pain. 

He closed his eyes, steadying his breath before opening them only to see the horror he left inside the bin ahead. It made him feel utterly mortified and worse than before. 

Unfortunately for him, the loud clicking of shoes troubled his ears, causing him to fume with another boatload of anxiety. 

“Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.” He thought to himself, suddenly getting the feeling of being graciously sick again. He hovered over the bin, wishing his fate was anything other than how it has seemed. 

Again, he spilled out sour vomit that contained his very overwhelming emotions within it. He felt like crying. Said person coming down the stairs had to have arrived AND had to have seen him do what no person would ideally like to see.

However the clicking stop, making him rethink whether the strange body had ever fully made it down the stairs. Maybe they changed their mind at the sound of his sick, causing them to flea in fear. 

Or perhaps said person was standing there watching them in disgust. Waiting to say something harsh or cruel about his condition any moment making him melt in pain-

“Ricky…” The voice said. Wait a minute, their tone wasn’t cruel at all. Instead, rather soft and familiar; reminding him of a comforting feeling. “It’s Nini.” There it is. 

“Oh.” Ricky breathed out, glancing up at her. “Hello.” He said, letting out a cough. Oh no, the nausea was still present. But his stomach felt settled, well at least for now. 

“Lovey, are you okay?” She asked. Lovey? Wow. Ricky shouldn’t be surprised, she calls everyone ‘lovey’. It’s practically her word. But something about it felt...different. 

Either way, she was there and she cared. That’s all he wanted. But then, he recalled why he needed her in the first place like his brain had seemingly forced itself to forget; or had been occupied with other thoughts instead. 

His parents were out there. His dad was out there. His mother was out there—but with another man. Another man who she kissed in front of his father. His chest seized in pain. He was freaking out again. 

He breathed a painful wheeze, feeling everything around him close in. The tears quickly came and he looked towards the bin again, only having to close his eyes at the horrid sight inside of it again. His hand never left the sides of the trash, because strangely enough, they grounded him, made him feel as if reality wasn’t completely broken yet. 

“Hey, hey, hey Ricky? Breathe.” Nini said. She ran over to him, hesitant to make contact with his quivering body. “Listen to me please breathe.” 

Her voice started to break. This was the worst thing ever. Opening night was in shambles. But she wasn’t upset for reasons other than Ricky. Because he was upset, broken, and panicking, and she had yet to understand why. He still felt as if he couldn’t breathe, failing to realize he was holding his own breath. 

“Ricky please.” She cried out, a tear rolling down her face. She was hurting. 

Ricky immediately stopped at her voice, glancing up at her with glossy eyes. She was crying. Not nearly as much as him, but she was still crying. No, no, no he did this to her. SHIT. He freaked her out. 

“Nini I-” He stopped with a gag forcefully ripping through his body. His stomach unsettled and he felt horribly sick again. Oh no, he was gonna throw up. “Oh god I’m gonna be sick.” He whined, grabbing his mouth. 

“We need to move you.” She grabbed his arms and forced him towards the restroom.

His right hand was still covered over his mouth while his other pressed against his stomach. She pushed him quickly into the closets bathroom; the girls bathroom. 

As soon as they reached the inside, Ricky was quickly on his knees vomiting again, into the nearest toilet. And Nini stood there watching. Fuck. 

She knelt down next to him, placing her hand gently on his back and rubbing soft circles to calm his shaking. This wasn’t her first time doing this. Ricky was definitely prone to getting sick often. Of course when they were together, she was always there. After school, during school, on the weekends; whenever. 

This occurrence didn’t scare her. It didn’t want to make her run or cover her eyes in horror. It only wanted to make her be there for him and him only. Because that’s what Ricky needed. Not just a girlfriend; a good friend. 

He finally stopped puking after a few minutes, resting his head on the dirty rim weakly. He coughed a few times, thinking it was about to come up again, but it didn’t. He was okay. 

Nini noticed he was still wearing his costume, as was she. The only difference was his was covered in puke while hers most certainly was not. Thank god it wasn’t too much or else he wouldn’t be able to wear it for Act Two; if he could even perform in Act Two. 

“Hey bub, I know this is gonna sound pretty awkward but,” She started, biting her lip anxiously. “We need to take off your shirt.” 

He glanced down at his jersey which was drenched in his disgusting sweat from him obviously puking, but also from his Act One performance. He felt uncomfortable. But he couldn’t move, he felt stuck; broken in his place. His body was weak and there was no way he could change alone. 

“Can you uhh...well um...help...me?” He asked. He couldn’t look her in the eyes it was too awkward. 

She swallowed her thoughts, giving him a blank face before nodding in agreement. 

“Sure. Yes. Yes, of course let me just um-” She tried to maneuver around his body to figure out away to comfortably lift his shirt. 

Unfortunately for Nini, there was no unawkward way to go about this so grabbing his shirt from the bottom was the only option. 

Ever so gracefully she pulled his shirt up, revealing his entire upper half. She didn’t want to stare at his packs, it was impolite. But she couldn’t help but remember their relationship and how his shirtless-ness was involved many, many times. 

Whatever, that was last year. There was no use in reminiscing over their infamous hook-ups and nighttime hot tub experiences of the past anymore. Ricky was sick, here and now, and that’s all the mattered. She carefully began to fold the jersey, placing it on the tile beneath her. 

“There we go.” She said with a deep breath. “Better?” She asked, staring into his eyes. 

They were still glossy, filled with tears. She was so beautiful to him, always. And he was so beautiful to her, always. No matter how sick or upset either one was. They were always both so very beautiful to each other. 

They had a moment, a moment that neither one expected to last longer than two seconds. But there they were on the girls bathroom floor, staring at each other’s eyes, noticing how much they loved each other all over again. 

Nini broke the stare first, awkwardly glancing down at the floor and wiping a sudden tear that fluttered down her flustered cheek. Ricky was next, wiping away his own tears that stayed put in his eyes. 

“You feeling any better.” She said, rubbing his arm. Lord, she needed to make some kind of contact with him. Ricky shuddered at her touch. “Sorry.” She said, noticing his slight shiver. 

“No it’s okay.” He said, not breaking contact with her once again. “And I don’t think I’ll be sick again. I think I’m out of puke.” He said with a chuckle. She laughed with him. 

“I’m glad.” She said simply. “But are you feeling better?” She reinforced. His face dropped. He really wasn’t feeling better, about anything.

Sure his stomach settled, but the only reason is went crazy was an unfortunate occurrence that was set and permanent. It would never settle or disappear; it was a moment in time. A memory, a horrible memory that Ricky would remember forever. He was about to break down again before Nini stopped him. 

She rubbed his arm, causing him to exhale shakily, shaking his head toward the floor. Tears were spilling again. He was hurting, a lot. Ricky almost spoke, looking at Nini, but she rubbed the tears off of his cheek, shushing him nicely. 

“We don’t need to talk about it now.” She told him. Continuing to wipe away the fallen tears. “It’ll just stress you out again, and we don’t need that right now.” He nodded. 

They stared deeply at each other for the third time that night, this time getting closer than ever. It reminded Nini of the time at her house, or even the piano room just a week ago. They were going to kiss, she could feel it. But it wasn’t the right time—again. 

They both started to lean in before Nini moved away, pushing her hand down from Ricky’s cheek. She shook her head.

“No, no we can’t. It’s not the time.” Ricky agreed, frowning towards the floor. “You’ve got puke breath.” She said laughing. He laughed too. 

But, Nini bit her lip, holding back a wide smile. “Let’s save it for Act Two.” 

And that’s all the encouragement Ricky needed to hear to get him back on his in order to finish the show. Not just to get a silly kiss, but to make Nini proud; to make everyone proud.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for making it until the end i appreciate. go read my other hsm fics if you’d like and comment suggestion on my tumblr if u have any !!! my tumblr is @skoopitywoop :))) ok bye


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